Reviews
Here is where you should post your reviews of films, books, articles, and other texts about cybercultures. Be sure to add a new bullet point for your artifact. Give a specific MLA citation for your text, followed by a detailed critical summary. Try to link your summary to some of the vocabulary terms on the other page. Example: *The Social Network, Dir. Fincher, David. Perf. Jesse Eisenberg, Anderw Garfield, Justin Timberlake. Columbia Pictures. 2010. Film. *Videodrome. Dir. Cronenberg, David. Perf. James Woods, Deborah Harry, and Sonja Smits. Canadian Film Development Corporation, Film. 1983. The intersection of virutal and material reality collide when Max Renn, a television producer,happens upon "Videodrome." . . . (continue summary). * The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Dir. Oplev, Niels. Writ. Arcel, Nikolaj, Heisterberg, Rasmus, and Steig Larsson. Danmarks Radio, 2009. Film. *"Unplugged." Modern Family. American Broadcasting Company. ABC, Minneapolis. 27 Oct. 2010. Television. *Mission: Impossible. Dir. Brian De Palma. Perf. Tom Cruise, John Voight. Paramount Pictures. 1996. Film. *Gattaca. Dir. Andrew Niccols Perf. Ethan Hawke, Uman Thruman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal, Lorean Dean. Columbia Pictures. 1997. Film *''The Matrix''. Prod. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. Dir. Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. By Andy Wachowski and Larry Wachowski. 1999. *''Inception'. 'Dir. Nolan, Christopher. Writ. Christopher Nolan. Perf. Leonardo DiCaprio, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, and Marion Coltillard. Legendary Pictures, Syncopy Films, Film. 2010. Inception, centers around a team of thieves, led by Cobb (Leonardo DiCaprio) who use technology to enter into and steal ideas from the dreams of their targets. The story develops when Cobb and his team are offered a job by Saito (Ken Watanabe) to plant an idea within the mind of a corporate heir, Robert Fischer (Cillian Murphey). Because the act of implanting information, also known as inception, is, in contrast to dream-theft, much easily detected, Cobb's team must travel through several layers of subconscious in order to convince their target that the incepted idea originated from within and not from a foreign source. The team crafts a collective dream-world that will occupy the mind of Fisher. As they begin to explore the shared dream world it becomes clear that Cobb's troubled past also occupies the dream. Battling this force from Cobb's past, time constraints, and the subconscious security of Fisher's mind, the team attempt to complete their mission. This film, despite being about dreams and not computers, offers several insights into cyberspace. First off, dreams are, like electronic cyberspaces, virtual realities. The only difference is that, outside of Inception, a dream is accessible to only one mind. Because the dreams are collective experiences in Inception they share the same dynamics as any other cyberspace. Most notably Inception examines how interaction and participation within a cyberspace forges new perspectives of not only the cyberspace but also the actual world. Many features of a cyberspace are also present in Inception. The different layers of the dream world recall a hyperlink structure and the characters within the dream world maintain an avatar presence. The film also explores the notion of security and theft of intellectual property (quite literally) within cyberspace. Finally, throughout the film, the distinction between the real world and the virtual world is constantly challenged. * Enemy of the State. Dir. Tony Scott. Perf. Will Smith, Gene Hackman, and Jon Voight. Touchstone, 1998. Film.'' In this film, Robert Dean (Will Smith) unknowingly becomes the owner of sensitive material that belongs to the NSA. The material is a videotape of the NSA murdering a politician in order to ensure new surveillance laws get passed. If passed, these new laws would help the government in their wish to watch over the general public. As the NSA begins to ruin Dean’s life, Dean decides to take action. Once Dean realizes who he is up against, he enlists the help of an old friend to put him in contact with “Brill.” Dean and “Brill” then team up in order to restore the order in Dean’s life as they fight back against the NSA. The major theme of this film is the idea of “Big Brother.” In the film, the NSA is requesting laws to be passed in order keep a more watchful eye on the public’s actions and personal information. In the movie, the NSA is in constant chase and watch of Dean, his contacts, friends, and family. The NSA uses satellites to monitor Dean’s movements, listen in on phone calls, obtain real time views of streets through security cameras, download structural blueprints, track Dean’s movement, clear Dean’s bank and credit accounts, pull any record they wish, and do anything else imaginable in order to aid their hunt of Dean. The movie demonstrates to viewers the dangers we are creating by pushing the capacities of technology, while also warning us of the destructive capabilities the Internet can have in the wrong hands. With the right tools and appropriate means, cyberspace provides unlimited potential with few regulations. As Laura Gurak explained in her book, ''Cyberliteracy, it is crucial for us to be active, not passive participants when it comes to cyberspace.'' *Sena, Dominic, dir. Swordfish. Perf. John Travolta, Hugh Jackman, Halle Berry, and Don Cheadle. Warner Bros Pictures, 2001. Film. *Minority Report (citation to come) *''Surrogates''. Dir. Jonathan Mostow. Perf. Bruce Willis, Radha Mitchell, and Ving Rhames. Touchstone Pictures, 2009. DVD. *''4chan.org'' *''The Hunger Games'' (trilogy). Collins, Suzanne. The Hunger Games. New York: Scholastic, 2008. Print. *I, Robot. Dir Proyas, Alex. Perf. Will Smith, Bridget Moynahan, and Bruce Greenwood. Twentieth Century Fox Film Corporation. 2004. Film. Avatar. Dir. James Cameron. Perf. Sam Worthington, Zoe Saldana, Sigourney Weaver. Twentieth Century Fox, 2009. Film. Category:Niccol, Andrew, Dir./Writ. GATTACA (1997) Columbia Pictures. Starring: Ethan Hawke, Uma Thurman, Jude Law, Gore Vidal, Lorean Dean